The Death of StormPilot: Why the Fan-Favorite Star Wars Ship Will Never Happen

If you’ve heard the word “StormPilot” within the Star Wars universe lately, it has nothing to do with the name of a movement or a ship not yet seen. It’s a new slang term for the wish fulfillment of having Finn and Poe link up romantically.

If that sounds out of the ordinary for Star Wars, you’re right, even though the actors who portray the characters were certainly on-board for such a thing.

While fan-fiction continues being a strong part of the non-canon Star Wars universe, a lot of people wonder whether the StormPilot idea will take shape in its own fan-fiction niche. There were insinuations within the gay community that maybe Poe and Finn were becoming more than just close resistance fighters.

It won’t happen in this saga, though it’s interesting to take a look at how The Rise of Skywalker might tie up their friendship.

Even before Disney owned ‘Star Wars’, the galaxy far, far away was a traditional place

There isn’t any past evidence George Lucas even thought about diversifying his massive roster of Star Wars characters to depict a gay human or alien. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, that wouldn’t have been allowed anyway in a mainstream film. Studios like 20th Century Fox were known for mostly traditional films not progressing anything overly controversial.

Nevertheless, one can argue approving the idea of Luke and Leia almost having a romance while being unknowing siblings was already skirting a line from the writing perspective. Not that anyone thought about such a thing back then since audiences didn’t know they were related until Return of the Jedi.

Even the prequels had no references to anything where fans thought about the potential of LGBTQ representation, proving George Lucas intended to have all relationships in the Star Wars universe be completely straight.

Outside of a few slight LGBTQ references in the new saga, the idea of “StormPilot” is going to come up again when The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters.

Will audiences accept that Finn and Poe are just close resistance fighters?

Considering the intensity of battle in the new Star Wars trilogy, bonds between the resistance fighters are going to grow closer than ever. Evidence of this has always been shown in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Many fans even wanted Finn and Rey to link up romantically, which didn’t happen because they were hardly seen together in the second film.

Finn ultimately ended up fighting closely alongside Poe Dameron, leading the two to nurture a friendship perhaps beyond the ordinary. J.J. Abrams recently said the two definitely aren’t gay, but exhibit a close friendship unlike any seen since the original films.

Maybe some will say this is just an excuse in not bringing more LGBTQ characters into the fray. Conversely, they may have Finn and Poe become closer just so those who want to believe in StormPilot can without it being explicitly mentioned.

For Oscar Isaac and John Boyega, they think it’s a missed opportunity.

Disney may keep to their conservative values

All confirmation from Abrams and Disney shows StormPilot is dead, and there may even be a real death of either one of the characters in The Rise of Skywalker if this is truly the end of the saga.

Promoting a close friendship through almost impossible battle odds is already worth celebrating if still half-hearted on behalf of Boyega and Isaac. Both are on record as saying it’s disappointing they didn’t have Finn and Poe become boyfriends. Yet, they note they have no real say on where the franchise goes.

With Disney at the helm, the traditional values they’ve upheld in their movies for decades will obviously continue, at least in this version of Star Wars. Because this saga ultimately connects emotionally with the original film, it may be argued it wasn’t the right forum to expand on their inclusion list.

Whether Disney+ will go there is another thing, albeit proof Disney will try some more daring things later.